News & Record prepares to scandalize Google pursuit

The (Greensboro, NC) News & Record editor John Robinson  announces he is going to have his newspaper start probing meaningful questions about Greensboro's pursuit of Google, such as is Greensboro ready for faster porn.

Greensboro: The Big Speedy?

I was shooting the breeze with city council representative Danny Thompson before Wednesday evening's Google meeting. I said to him, if we can get this ultra high speed internet access, along with our three runways, overnight cargo hub, intersection of three interstate highways and possibly being a destination along the proposed high speed rail corridor, Greensboro could become The Big Speedy.

Sure, it is funny considering our laid back history. Even where we are, it's less than genuine. But as far as where we might go? The Big Speedy. Why not?

Greensboro: The Big Speedy

About the City of Greensboro sponsored community meeting to hear ideas for luring Google's utlra high speed internet access to Greensboro this past Wednesday evening (video of the entire meting, Fox8 report): It was a good first step. Assistant City Manager Denise Turner is inspiring in her enthusiasm for this prospect and her willingness to drive it forward on behalf of the city and its citizens.Great assists from other staff in multiple ways too.

It was good to see City Council representatives Danny Thompson, Nancy Vaughan and Robbie Perkins there. It's nice to see that Greensboro's future mayor (pick one) thinks this kind of thing is important.

While there were some inspiring comments and great ideas offered up, we need to go bigger -- make that "broader." We need Greensboro's heavy hitters to jump in. If they are not finding their own motivations, those of us currently involved need to take their hands and lead them  to the promised land -- whether that means getting them on video, extending personal invitations to come to the next meeting or just making sure that the City's application includes their remarks.

Casually surfing YouTube this morning, I ran across this video from Baltimore School's CEO expressing his desire for Google to bring their fiber to Baltimore. That is the kind of thing Greensboro needs by the truck load, on-the-record public support from our school system administrators, university presidents, business leaders, newspaper publishers, media moguls and community activists. Pronto.

[Update: Ed Cone adds: "Also, butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers -- anyone with something useful to say about how fat pipes would change things for the better, and/or what GSO offers GOOG."]

Fox8 promotes city council representative Perkins to "Chairman"

[Hat tip to Joe Guarino.]

An unidentified WGHP Fox8 reporter identifies Greensboro city council representative Robbie Perkins as "Greensboro city council chairman." There is no council chairman and Robbie Perkins is not it.

Bonus tip: It's "legislature," not "legislator."

Thinking more about WFMY's iron curtain response to questions of faking news

In response to a previous post about WFMY reporter Mac Ingraham, news director Jim Platzer and station manager Deborah Hooper all failing to reply to emails from Ed Cone, Jerry Bledsoe or me about whether or not they fabricated video footage of the "black book," commenter Don suggested I take a camcorder to their studios and knock on the door to ask them about it.

As I told Don. That would not work because they will only buzz you in from the portico if you have an appointment

I know this because of numerous visits to WFMY during my lifetime thus far to participate in activities that supported their station: From, as a kid, going to the Old Rebel show; to promoting Muscular Dystrophy Carnivals and participating in MD telethons; to going on the Good Morning Show time after time to talk about various community events and endeavors; to giving them interviews, even as recently as Wednesday about the Google thing when I could have--probably should have--told them to take a hike.

The memories that are most poignant though are of my visits to schedule ad time when I was running for mayor, including a visit to put a check for payment into station manager Deborah Hooper's hands -- she gladly talked to me then. All of this makes the refusal to reply now not just a professional disgrace for WFMY, but quite insulting too.

WFMY will not answer questions about faking the news

WFMY reporter Mac Ingraham, news director Jim Platzer and station manager Deborah Hooper have circled the wagons and simply refuse to reply to inquiries asking about possibly faking video footage in a newscast.

Reporter Mac Ingraham has failed to answer three emails from me. Station manager Deborah Hooper has not responded to being copied on the third. I have emailed her a second time.

News Director Jim Platzer has not responded to Ed Cone.

News Director Platzer and reporter Ingraham have not responded to Jerry Bledsoe.

I do not want to jump to any conclusions, but I would think that if WFMY did not fake the video footage in their newscast, they would be eager to say so. Hiding out makes me think that maybe they did not not fake it.

MyFox8's report on last night's Google meeting

Nice. Well done, Chad Tucker.

 

How to grab video from the Greensboro City web site

UPDATE (5/10/2013): These instructions no longer work. Follow the instructions here.
 ---------

The City of Greensboro is pretty effective in getting video of council meetings and other meetings onto its website in a timely fashion. But the videos are embedded in a page hosted by Granicus that obscures the path to the actual video file. If one wants to download the video so that one can edit clips to post on a blog or to YouTube, one needs the link to the video source file.

How do you get the video file from a Granicus hosted City of Greensboro web page?

The URL will be like this:

http://207.7.154.96:443/MediaVault/Download.aspx?server=greensboro.granicus.com&clip_id=880&type=.wmv

See the 880? That's the video's unique ID. If one is watching a video embedded on a Granicus hosted page, like this one, one can right click on the video and select "properties." That will display a "location" that also contains "clip_id=" Look for it, it's there. Get the clip ID from there and substitute it for the 880 in the link above. Paste the link in your web browser and you can download the source file for the video.

Brad & Britt ignoring the Google initiative?

[Update: Brad Krantz says the lack of mention was just an oversight.]

I listen to about 20 minutes of radio in the car nearly every weekday morning. Sometimes I'll take the long way to listen a little longer if something has my attention. Usually I'm listening to Brad Krantz and Britt Whitmire on FM Talk 101.1 WZTK.

Lately, however, I've been popping in on Bill Flynn and Pam Furr on WPTI Rush Radio 94.5. The partisan angle of the station is sure to keep me from being a fan, but I'm an open-minded guy: I'll listen to Rush from time to time for opposition research, plus I am interested to see how this shapes up as a media battle between the two morning shows. Bill and Pam have been more palatable than I expected and their discussion of the Google initiative caught my attention -- especially compared to Brad & Britt's silence on it.

Bill and Pam discussed Greensboro's attempts to lure Google's ultra high speed internet to town with callers yesterday morning. I did not hear anything from Brad and Britt. This morning, Bill and Pam were talking about it again. It was also covered in their news. I did not hear anything from Brad and Britt; or in their news on WZTK. I did hear a commercial for Time Warner Cable's internet access.

Spagnola throws his hat in the ring

And with that head of hair, he really doesn't need a hat anyway.

Occasional comrade and frequent nemesis attorney Sam Spagnola has filed to run as a primary challenger to Republican Linda Shaw for the seat she currently holds on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners.

Sam takes a strong ideological approach to issues which I find undesirable in elected officials. I am not in his district though and I'd be remiss if I did not note some good things he has going for him, what with he and I having once been teammates on a shared civic pursuit.

Sam is tenacious--he followed through to the end our records request and subsequent lawsuit over it with the City of Greensboro. He has lots of energy and he would be an openly engaged representative as he has established himself as a prolific blogger and local blog commentator. I assume that would not end. Linda Shaw, by contrast, appears to have no web presence at all and has not, that I am aware of, ever participated in a public online discussion. Sam would certainly be a twenty-first century representative, even if he'd annoy the heck out of me while at it.

Operation Google. Wednesday evening public meeting.

A reminder that the public is invited to attend a city-sponsored meeting this Wednesday at 6:00 PM to offer input on Operation Google, Greensboro's effort to be chosen as the test market for Google's new ultra high speed internet access. Mark your calendar.

This isn't just for geeks and wonks. Landing this would be a great thing for Greensboro and part of Google's application process asks about community involvement and community interest, so anybody who thinks they want this to happen should come to this meeting and make their support known and publicly offer encouragement.

Details:

City holds public meeting on why Google should choose Greensboro as
testing site for new broadband network

 GREENSBORO, NC (February 17, 2010) – Want faster Internet connection? Speeds that could be more than 100 times faster than what you currently have? That could be a possibility if Greensboro is chosen as a testing site for Google’s ultra-high speed broadband network.

            The City of Greensboro is holding a public meeting to get your input on why Greensboro should be chosen as a testing site for the new service. The meeting will be held at 6 pm Wednesday, February 24, in Council Chambers of the Melvin Municipal Office Building, 300 W. Washington St. City staff wants your opinions on why Greensboro needs Google, why Google needs Greensboro, what it will mean for the city to have Google here, and what makes Greensboro unique.

            Google is planning to test its ultra-high speed broadband network in a small number of cities across the country. If selected, Google will offer service that is more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have to Greensboro residents at a competitive price.


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Planning your yard and garden

I went a Googlin' for some information to help me decide what to attempt to grow in a vegetable garden this year and found a great resource from NC State's North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. I found a planting guide for vegetables that includes recommended varieties, planting dates and conditions for the Piedmont region. The web site has other quick guides for everything from fruit trees, to lawns, to flowers and more. Great resources for the hopeful gardener.

Did WFMY fake the black book? Bledsoe wonders too.

I do not remember the "black book" ever being made available for public inspection. I remember that City Council asked to see it and was shown portions of it in a closed session, but a situation where it could have been videotaped? Not that I remember. So, did WFMY fake a video recording of the black book as seen in this screen shot taken from Mac Ingraham's report of February 18, 2010 or did they get access to the real thing?

[Ingraham's voice over while this is on the screen: "Such as with the infamous black book, that contained photos of black officers."]

I've sent an email to Mr. Ingraham asking him about it to which I have not yet received a reply. I also sent an email to Jerry Bledsoe asking him if he thought this was the black book. Turns out he has similar questions, and more. Here is an email he says he sent to Ingraham and WFMY's news director, Jim Platzer. [Emphasis added.]
=========

Mr. Ingraham,
I expect to be writing about your interview with Bellamy, and I have a few questions.
You reported as fact that the so-called black book contains photos and information on many black officers. What is your source for that? What information about these many  black officers is in the book? Do you know how many photos of black officers are in the book? Did you question Bellamy about any of this? If so, what did he say? If not why not? Did Bellamy show you the book? Video purporting to be the black book appears in your report. When was that recorded and where?  Was this the actual case book? Or was this another thick black binder that you were passing off as the black book? Were you aware that the binder you are calling the black book was a case book for a specific investigation and the photos of  black officers are in 19 individual photo line-ups? Did you know that no names are used in photo line-ups and no information is provided. If you were aware of this why didn't you mention it instead of leading viewers to believe that this was a book only of black officers prepared for nefarious purposes? Are you aware that a legal document has been made public in which former City Manager Mitch Johnson states that this casebook was prepared for a legitimate investigation and that the city has no evidence that it ever was used for any other purpose? Why has that never appeared on News 2? Did you request this interview with Bellamy, or did he offer it to News 2? Did Bellamy mention to you that a lengthy and thorough Internal Affairs investigation had been conducted about the black book, that the claims were determined to be unfounded, and that he approved and signed the findings of that investigation? I would appreciate answers to these questions.

Thank you in advance
Jerry Bledsoe

An open letter to Greensboro City Council Representative Robbie Perkins

[The Greensboro City web site does not list council members' email addresses]

Dear Council Person Perkins,

Joe Guarino brings to our attention this morning, a filing by the Greensboro city attorney seeking to block disclosure of your correspondence, including:

"...email and text messages, from any other member of the Greensboro City Council and Roy Carrol concerning Kotis Properties, Inc. Marty Kotis, Horspen Village Commercial, LLC, this lawsuit or any matters pending before the Greensboro City Council."

As you may be aware, governmental transparency is an important local issue to me, especially as it relates to access to public documents and Greensboro's overuse of the legal department to stifle transparency. I am wondering, did you support this effort by the City Attorney on your behalf? Can you explain how it benefited the public you were elected to serve?

Sincerely,
Roch Smith, Jr.

I'd rather fight than switch

Ed Cone:

"[Mayor Bill Knight is] the mayor of a sprawling, highly diverse city. His job is to make it run efficiently and honestly, and to listen to and lead all of its people. If he listens to the relative few who hoped his election heralded a new era of partisan local politics, he's doomed, and that's not good for any of us."

Ed is right. We want City Council to judge options on their likely outcomes, not on their alignment with some ideological prescription.

Bigotry interrupted

The problem with WFMY's reportage of the police department is that it was untethered from the facts. Freed from any concern for the truth, they presented implications, verbal and visual, that created a false impression. It was not reporting, it was sensationalism and the impression it created would quickly find itself at odds with the facts should the reporter or producer have bothered with them.

And that's it: Bad reporting.

That others found it to be some kind of confirmation of their paranoid racist fantasies is a result of their own misunderstandings and prejudices. Lest there be any confusion, I do not share their bigoted suspicions or assertions.

"As first reported, uh, I mean repeated..."

The Inside Scoop:

"As first reported on Doug Clark's blog, Greensboro attorney and blogger Sam Spagnola is considering taking on Guilford County Commissioner Linda Shaw in the Republican Primary for District  3."

Um, it was first reported on Sam Spagnola's blog.

WFMY's Mac Ingraham: Misleader extraordinaire, with an assist from Police Chief Tim Bellamy

[Note: Mac Ingraham was incorrectly identified in this post. That has been corrected.]

WFMY sucks so bad. They have so much trouble with issues of any complexity, they should just stick to recipes. "Reporter" Mac Ingraham lowers their crapiness to a new level. They are so far behind on the facts, it's not even worth an effort to attempt to explain. Suffice it to say people with half a brain understand and appreciate WFMY's utter stupidity.

And Chief "They was dubbed the secret police" Bellamy? What an embarrassment. He has had plenty of time to set the record straight. He has failed. His departure will be a blessing to Greensboro.

Cleaning up video gambling? If only.

There's a letter to the editor in the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record this morning from one Ryan Kimrey of Charlotte who says he works in the "video gaming business." His letter defends his campaign contribution to gambling-friendly state legislator Earl Jones. Kimrey says the games offered in North Carolina are "just as legal as McDonald’s sweepstakes and Publishers Clearinghouse" and that he and Earl Jone favor legislation that would enforce "protection for consumers."

If only.

Despite having written to Representative Earl Jones imploring him to include disclosure of the odds of winning on video gambling, as other legal sweepstakes must, and requiring that video games representing real-world games, such as cards and dice, be programmed to have odds identical to their real-world equivalent, none of those obvious consumer protections ever made their way into the pro-gaming bill Jones submitted to the legislature -- and Jones never responded to my correspondence about them.

I am quite certain the video gambling industry would like to come out from the shadows and operate with full legal recognition. I am also quite certain that their claim to desire consumer protection is, to date, a load of bull.

==========
Email sent to State Representative Earl Jones on April 30, 2009 -- Never answered
==========

Hello Representative Jones,

I read your bill to legalize video poker machines. I have a few questions about it. If you can spare five minutes, can you give me a call at your convenience.

If you prefer, you can reply by email:

1. The bill allocates a total of 100% of the gross revenue to machine owners, licensees and the state. Doesn't this assume 0% paid out as winnings?

2. The bill contains no consumer protections. What are your thoughts about adding the following to the bill?

a. Requirements that machines display the odds of winning; that if the odds change as the machine is played, the odds be updated and displayed in real time.
b. Requiring games that use representations of real-world gaming implements, such as cards or dice, give players the same odds as one would have playing with a physical deck of cards or dice.

3.. Why was the Department of Revenue chosen to enforce the licensing provisions of this bill instead of ALE?

Greensboro loves Google. City staff launches Operation Google.

The following update on the City's plans for pursuing Google's ultra high-speed internet access was sent to City Council members today from Assistant City Manager Denise Turner (courtesy of Councilor Nancy Vaughan). It sounds terrific to me.
===================

Council – we held the first meeting this morning of what is called ‘Operation Google’ to discuss how to move forward on this application. Included in the meeting was Darryl Jones, IT Director and Councilmember Thompson. Councilmember Matheny also stopped by to provide a couple of ideas but did not join the meeting.

We concluded the application has three aspects to it:

1. What is Greensboro’s unique selling position? What’s attractive about Greensboro? 
2. What are the infrastructure resources the city has to complete a competitive application? 
3. Community input and engagement in creating a competitive application.

Next Steps
The work to complete the technical and data portions of the application started last week and will continue. Most of it we have in-house, some we will gather from external sources but I expect to complete those sections pretty quickly and easily. Darryl Jones is inventorying the city’s infrastructure and will work with other public and large institutions in the city to determine our technological capacity and how it is utilized.

A public meeting will be called for next Wednesday, February 24 at 6pm in the Council chambers to solicit input from the public regarding:

• What does it mean to have Google in Greensboro/how would we benefit from Google’s presence
•  What is attractive about us/what makes Greensboro unique?
• Why does Greensboro need Google and why Google needs us.

The feedback will help build the aspect of the unique selling position of Greensboro. There is a need to have a strong community focused marketing effort as part of the application as well. Google encourages youtube videos, use of Google maps and other ways to make the statement of why Google should pick our city. Hopefully, the public meetings will add to this aspect as well.

From this meeting, we will narrow the focus of the application. In the meantime, I am doing some research to gain an understanding of other projects that may be underway across the city which may have relevance to the application as well.

An open letter to City Council Representative Danny Thompson

Hi Danny,

I read Dick Barron's article about the Google effort and in it I read something that you had previously said to me and about which I'd like to you to consider from a different perspective: It is your view that the Google initiative might somehow mesh with the "Piedmont Triad logistics community."

If I may be frank, any overlap between the two is tangential and trying to shoehorn the Google initiative into the logistics community idea will miss the point of the importance of Google's plans, the way it may actually transform Greensboro and how Greensboro can win it.

Consider:

• Greensboro has had no net job growth in the past ten years. Why? Because we had previously put our eggs largely in the manufacturing basket. The endeavors the Google network would inspire are appealing precisely because they would NOT necessarily overlap with the logistics basket. They will be a diversification away from the logistics industries. They are going to be creative, software, information, education, entertainment and media types of endeavors.
  
  
• Logistics/Shipping has a significant physical footprint. Its infrastructure consumes fossil fuels, its vehicles take up space, make noise and cause congestion; its operations are polluting and its labor largely physical. The Google infrastructure would inspire a complimentary component to our local economy because of its nearly opposite characteristics.
  
  Endeavors inspired by Google's ultra high speed internet access will consume electrical power that may come from clean alternative energy; the physical footprint, for the infrastructure itself will be minimal; its spin-offs can "recycle" existing space throughout the city rather than having to build anew in specific locales; it and the industries it will inspire are environment friendly and their labor largely cerebral.
  
  
• The Google initiative, by their explanation, seeks to serve a discrete cohesive community. The Aeropolis concept, by its definition, seeks to make sprawl an asset; to diminish the identity and influence of any single place or government and recast an identity around a vague amalgam of places.
  
  Google says it wants to serve a community of 50,000 to 500,000 people. Greensboro's 258,000 is right in the fat part of that range. Think about what Google needs to do -- they need to lay/string fiber optic cable throughout the place they choose. Try to sell them on a twelve county area and the geographical prohibitions put us in the losers' column.
  
  
• Google wants a place. A place. The Piedmont Triad Aeropolis is not a place. It's a still-evolving concept. Greensboro is a real place with people, infrastructure and institutions that set it apart from and above its neighbors. It should thrill us, especially those elected to serve Greensboro, to pursue an opportunity where we can toot our own horn; where everything Google needs or wants for this endeavor is right here, in Greensboro; where inclusion of far flung bergs and towns is not only unnecessary for once, but a detriment to our qualifications for this pursuit.

I know from our conversations that you "get" the importance of Google's initiative. I am grateful that you have taken a serious interest. What I hope you'll see is that there are huge differences between the Google initiative and the logistics/shipping concept and that appreciating that difference will help us do better in trying to bring Google here. Neither needs the other. Neither excludes the other. But let the Google thing have its own proper inspiration. We'll do a better job of convincing Google why they should choose Greensboro if we understand it well ourselves first.

Yours,
Roch

Green Ford, what are you doing?

I received this this in the mail from Green Ford.. Ooooh, boy! I got three $25,000 circles, which the mailer tells me means"YOU WIN!*" (Circled in red.)

WOW! What did I "win" exactly though? Read the fine print and it is not $25,000 necessarily or even the "New 2010 Ford Fusion Sel!" I might be the one out of 900,000 to have won $25,000 or I might have won an ATV, $1,000 in cash or "3 Gold Coins."

So even if I haven't won $25,000, any one of those prizes still sounds worth going to the dealership to collect, right? Well, those "Gold Coins," are not gold at all. They are $1 US coins -- golden in color -- "gold" the way a dime is "silver." It's three dollars.

Sheesh!

I can understand the reason why Green Ford might have thought this was acceptable. When competing with ethically dubious dealerships that advertise a ridiculously low price and obscure the detail that said price is after a $4,000 down payment, it must be tempting to stoop to their level. But I've always thought of Green Ford, and the Greens, as pillars of our community. This advertisement diminishes that reputation. It suggests to me that Green Ford doesn't mind deceiving people, and that is not the kind of business practice I imagine most people are looking for from a car dealership.*

[ *The words displayed here are strictly and solely for the purpose of expressing the opinions of the author after only one cup of coffee. They do not reflect the opinions of his employers, affiliates, associates, family, friends or enemies. Things may or may not be as they seem and author makes no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy of what may appear to be a representation of fact. Corresponding with the author on this subject other than in the comments on this blog will obligate correspondent to consulting fees of $160 per hour, $160 minimum per contact, plus $99 customer set-up fee and $40 pajama charge and correspondent acknowledges that contacting the author constitutes acceptance of these terms and agreement to pay author said fees within 3 days of contact. Cash only. Your mileage may vary.]

You gotta vote, lady

The (Greensboro, NC) News & Record has a letter today from Alesia May expressing her anger at the president and the government because her employed adult daughter cannot get adequate health care. Maybe voting in more than two elections since 1993 might help.

Registration Date: 02/12/1993

Voting History:

05/06/2008 PRIMARY	05/06/2008	IN PERSON
11/02/2004 GENERAL	11/02/2004	ABSENTEE

Dumb, dumb, dumb. Greensboro is going to screw up the Google RFI

As expected, there is interest in trying to get Google to choose Greensboro for its next-generation ultra-high speed broadband internet access. And apparently efforts are underway that are blind to Greensboro's history of making these kinds of initiatives tumultuous and divisive.

Instead of a wide-open first step of figuring out who the stakeholders are, what areas of expertise the application demands, who is best qualified to provide them and fostering broad community support from the get go, we have people operating in secret and closed groups. This is a prescription for unnecessary complications and mediocrity. This approach not only fails, by definition, to draw from the broadest talent pool possible, but it assures consensus only as an afterthought.

One secret group is described as "a privately-led group, involving key personnel from the city, econ dev groups, a/w/a people who are downtown supporters." Who, specifically, is not clear.

I am also told, whether a part of the same group or not, I do not know, that the City's "IT staff started pursuing this Wednesday" and that I'll be informed of "more as we get closer to applying."

This is old Greensboro. Broken Greensboro. The worst of Greensboro unheeded and repeated. Nobody has a right to hijack control of this initiative. This is too important to screw up. There needs to be community consensus FIRST for how to proceed, not another muckup vomited up from behind the same old closed doors.

Utlra-high speed broadband for Greensboro?

I sent the following email to Mayor Bill Knight and Assistant City Manager Denise Turner today:
==============

Dear Honorable Mayor Knight and Ms. Turner,

As Ed Cone notes on his blog today(1), Google has announced an initiative to "test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country." Google is soliciting Requests for Information from communities interested in being considered.

This is the kind of innovative new-industry initiative Greensboro should pursue with gusto. The deadline for applications is March 26, 2010. I respectfully request that the City of Greensboro assemble a team of qualified individuals from City staff and the community who can write and submit a Request for Information for Google. Obviously, time is of the essence. Anything I can do to assist in bringing this to speedy and efficient fruition would be my pleasure. You may contact me by email reply or at the phone number below.

(1) http://edcone.typepad.com/wordup/2010/02/goog-4-gso.html

Cordially,
Roch Smith, Jr.

Ben Holder asks City to address propaganda

Ben Holder sent the following to Greensboro Assistant City Manager Denise Turner and Public Affairs Director Pat Bosewell today regarding information found on the City's web site.

"There is a link on the city's website located on the media/press release section called "police investigation."  It has most of the propaganda that was produced by the former city manager and former city council.  The page is packed with audio clips, news articles, time lines etc.  However, NEVER does it include the result of the Scott Sanders trial nor does it include the charges against Tom Fox being dropped.  I find this to be horrible and you should too.  There has been enough confusion and lying to the public about the Wray Fray and to have this city made web page up telling half of the story is ridiculous.  Why not include everything?  Why not show the video of Mitch being fired?  The paper work showing Sanders being found not guilty?  The city has Yes Weekly articles but not one Rhino Times.  I think if you asked the Mayor he would tell you that he thinks the Rhino Times did an excellent job in reporting about the police investigation.  I think it is time for the city to update the page filled with half stories and inaccuracies and fill in the blanks.  The police investigation portion of the city's web site does not match the city's core values.  Please fix this immediately. "

Bad Form

I do not know what arrangement the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record has with the (Raleigh, NC) News & Observer regarding the N&R's practice of pasting N&O articles in their entirety on the N&R web site. One assumes the N&O has given their blessings, but doing so without a link to the original source is bad form.

"Robert L. Simpson is chairman of the Alamance County Republican Party."

"Robert L. Simpson is chairman of the Alamance County Republican Party."

As the Burlington Time News identifies him on his letter to their editor -- as the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record does not.

Good stuff from Green

"This happened, then this happened; and here is some important context. Now you are more knowledgeable."

Some reporters, when they are on, are just great at making you smarter. Yes!Weekly's Jordan Green covers the public hearing on the proposed land development ordinance.

Are their votes in Greensboro's municipal election annulled too?

A judge has annulled Greensboro's annexation of some McLeansville neighborhoods. What about the votes cast from those neighborhoods in last year's municipal elections? Are those annulled too?

Judge orders state to allow complaint against "RMA Report" authors?

Ben Holder, busy this morning investigating another matter of local interest, tells me that former Greensboro Police Department Deputy Chief Randall Brady has won a ruling by a judge ordering a state licensing board to accept a complaint against Risk Management Associates.

You will recall that Risk Management Associates of Raleigh was the agency that produced the infamous "RMA Report," the report that hoodwinked a lot of as-yet unapologetic elected officials into thinking that the GPD command staff was discriminating against black cops. The once-"secret" report was discredited in large portions by subsequent facts, many documented by Jerry Bledsoe in the Rhino Times.

Brady had tried to file a complaint against RMA regarding their report with the North Carolina Private Protection Services Board, the licensing board for private investigators in the state. The board declined to act on Brady's complaint, saying he did not have standing because he was not a client of RMA's. The judge's ruling apparently reverses that decision.

Good question.

Two people arrested yesterday for robbery in Greensboro were also arrested for robbery in Greensboro six months ago. Joe Guarino asks:

"Who is at fault for this situation?  It seems the public would be well served if the press were to investigate how their initial case failed to result in long-term imprisonment."

Good question. Good suggestion.

Colts 19, Saints 17

For what it's worth.

Still not smarter than a fifth grader. More misunderstanding of percentages at the News & Record

A News & Record reporter makes another mistake regarding the basic understanding of percentages (previously by editor John Negay). This time it is reporter Donald Patterson, in a convoluted explanation of local poverty statistics, reporting that the increase in the number of people living in poverty here since 2000 represents "a jump of 3.5 percent."

It struck me as odd that such a small increase would be described as a "jump." So I went looking for a lucid explanation. I found it in an article from more than two weeks ago in the Triad Business Journal. What the Biz Journal explains, and that illuminates the News & Record error, is that the poverty rate "was 16.2 percent in 2008, up from 12.6 percent in 2000."

Ah. That is an increase of 28.6 percent, not 3.5 percent as Patterson reports--but, indeed, worthy of calling a jump when properly described. Petterson gets wrong the meaning of percent. The poverty rate increased by 28.6 PERCENT or 3.6 POINTS. If your cholesterol goes from 200 to to 220, that is a 20 POINT increase but a 10 PERCENT increase. Professionals who venture to explain statistics to their readers should understand the difference.

Bug me not. Readers object to N&R reporting

On February 1, the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record's Inside Scoop reported this regarding the arrest of James O’Keefe:

"O’Keefe was busted last week and charged with attempting to bug U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu’s phone in the Hale Boggs Federal Building in downtown New Orleans."

and further described:

"O’Keefe’s attempted phone tapping."

Reader Fred Gregory shared with me some emails he exchanged with the article's author, Mark Binker, about the accuracy of those statements and, according to Binker, several people had complained that O'Keefe was not charged with "bugging." But Binker is standing by what he described as his "shorthand" reporting.

O'Keefe is the guy who recently gained notoriety when he dressed as a pimp and entered an ACORN office (video) to solicit advice for avoiding taxes for his fantasy criminal enterprise--advice he received. Reader complaints that O'Keefe was not charged with bugging seem, to me, to be an effort to get the media to make room for O'Keefe's explanation that he and his entourage only used phone employee disguises and a phony telephone repair excuse as a means to gain access to Landrau's office for observation and that they intended to maybe go as far as disabling the phone equipment for the purpose of surreptitiously recording Landrau's office staff's reaction on video, but that they did not intend to wiretap or bug the phones.

I cannot find a copy of the formal charges against O'Keefe. There is the original criminal complaint from the FBI in which the agent attests there is probable cause to believe that O'Keefe coordinated the scheme "for the purpose of willfully and maliciously interfering with a telephone system operated and controlled by the United States of America." This closely reflects what other news outlets reported: that O'Keefe and his posse were charged with entering the senator's office "under false pretenses for the purposes of committing a felony."

While I cannot determine what legal distinction may exist between attempting to "interfere" with a telephone system and attempting to wiretap, other media outlets who originally also used "bugging" and "wiretapping," including the Washington Post find the difference significant enough to have issued clarifications to their original stories, correcting their original misreporting of O'Keefe having been charged with "bugging" and "wiretapping."

Binker's shorthand use of "attempting to bug," is inaccurate. His "attempted phone tapping," is unfounded. The mistake was common and not partisan. While I do not think the distinctions between bugging and tampering are going to lessen the effects on O'Keefe's credibility, that is really not a reporter's concern. Accuracy is, and this is no Watergate; so, for the sake of accuracy, if nothing else, the News & Record should follow the lead of other media and correct their reporting on this one.

Panoramic February One Photographic Awesomeness

The amazing Tom Lassiter does it again with an amazing all-direction view of the opening of the International Civil Rights Museum. Click the photo for the awesomeness.

"Stupid museum"

I don't know who this joker is, but if he wants to make public his complaints about snow getting cleared for the opening of the "stupid museum," as he calls it, and not his suburban street, then I think we should all take a good look.

[Update: Thecrashguy, the original publisher of this video, subsequently made it "private." I have replaced it with an archived copy, unedited from the original.]